1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to exercise apparatus and, more particularly, to upper and lower body exercise apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Stationary exercise cycles resembling modified bicycles are well-known. The most common variety of exercise cycle exercises only the lower body. Medical evidence indicates, however, that upper body exercise increases heart rate and energy expenditure to a greater degree than lower body exercise. Exercising both the upper and lower body produces the best overall results because the work is spread over a large muscle mass, thereby moderating the rise in blood pressure.
Several exercise cycles are commercially available which offer both upper and lower body exercise. For example, the Schwinn.RTM. Air-Dyne.TM. has moving hand levers in combination with the traditional rotary foot pedals to exercise both the upper and lower body. The upper and lower body can be exercised independently with the Air-Dyne.TM. by removing either the hands or the feet from the respective levers or pedals and only utilizing one portion of the apparatus. The unused portion continues to move, however, because the hand levers are operatively connected to the foot pedals through the wheel hub. A similar cycle is described in Hooper U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,030 which issued on Feb. 12, 1980.
The American Sports, Inc.'s Rowing Sports-Cycle also features a lever type upper body exercising device in combination with a traditional pedal type exercise cycle.
The back and forth motion required by lever or rowing type upper body exercising devices is not as smooth a motion as the circular pedaling motion. At the end of each stroke, the user must change the direction of force and consequently, experiences a momentary change of acceleration. When tension is applied to the workload, the change in direction places a strain on the shoulder muscles.
Zent U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,235, which issued on Jan. 31, 1978 and Niles U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,699, which issued on March 30, 1971, each describe an exercise apparatus having a rotary foot and hand operated pedals to provide lower and upper body exercise. The foot and hand pedals are operatively connected by chains so that an unused portion will not remain stationary while the other portion is in use. Thus, if the upper body portion alone is being used, the foot pedals continue to rotate. If the person exercising on the apparatus doesn't want to passively exercise his lower body, he must awkwardly hold his legs away from the rotating pedals or risk injury.
Exercise cycles equipped with motors for passive upper and lower body exercise are described in Zent U.S. Pat. No. 3,213,852, issued on Oct. 26, 1965 and Carnielli U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,742, issued on June 22, 1976.
Ketchum U.S. Pat. No. 4,257,588, which issued on Mar. 24, 1981, describes a crank type upper body exerciser attachment for traditional exercise cycles. The upper body portion is not so operatively connected to the lower body portion that the two cannot be used independently without actuating the unused portion. However, the upper body attachment does not drive the wheel of the cycle. The wheel generally absorbs the rotational energy transmitted from the hand and/or foot pedals. Distance equivalents can be monitored by monitoring the rotating of the wheel. In the Ketchum exerciser there is no common resistance to rotation for the foot and hand cranks thus making it difficult to monitor distance.
There is a need for an exercise apparatus, which permits upper and lower body exercise to be performed simultaneously or independently, at the users option, without the hazard and inconvenience of the continued operation of an unused portion. There is a further need for such an apparatus which promotes a smooth upper body motion and offers common resistance to the foot and hand operated portions so that distance equivalents can be easily monitored.